Prescott Town Council has picked a contractor for the construction of the new fire hall.
At the town council meeting last night the mayor and councillors heard a staff report from Director of Public Works & Infrastructure Dan Beattie outlining who he believes is the best company to contract to build the new fire hall. Beattie suggested the town offer the job to Bourgon Construction, based out of Cornwall. Bourgon Construction bid $3,590,000 for the contract, over $200,000 less than the next closest bid, and provided excellent references.
Some members of the council were expressed concern that Bourgon Construction had never built a fire hall before but Beattie pointed out the company is well versed in post disaster building construction, like hospitals and ambulance stations. Once Beattie outlined the company’s experience council passed the motion with a unanimous vote.
The contractor selection process started with a pre-qualification stage during the spring of 2017. According to the town the project was posted to the town website and the town’s architects passed the information to contractors in Eastern Ontario who had relevant experience. Pre-qualification criteria included experience with similar projects, project capacity, financial viability, liens experience, local presence and references. Each criterion received a point value and those with enough points were asked to bid on the project. Beattie points out that half of the pre-qualified companies were local but they did not receive bids from any of these companies.
The town is expected to extend the offer to Bourgon Construction today. The town’s timeline has them breaking ground on August 1st and completing the project September 28th of 2018. With the building cost now determined council expect the new fire hall to cost $5, 071, 981.
